44-634: New Transit Yurikamome ( 新交通ゆりかもめ , Shinkōtsū Yurikamome ) , formerly the Tokyo Waterfront New Transit Waterfront Line ( 東京臨海新交通臨海線 , Tōkyō Rinkai Shinkōtsū Rinkai-sen ) , is an automated guideway transit service operated by Yurikamome, Inc. , connecting Shimbashi to Toyosu , via the artificial island of Odaiba in Tokyo , Japan , a market in which it competes with the Rinkai Line . The line
88-483: A PRT system, known as ULTra , to connect Terminal 5 with the long-term carpark; its full operation began in September 2011. Rinkai Line The Rinkai Line ( りんかい線 , Rinkai-sen ) is a railway line in Tokyo , Japan. It is the only line operated by the third-sector company Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit . It connects central Tokyo to the artificial islands of Aomi and Odaiba . The line
132-496: A consistent net loss since 1991. By comparison, the competing elevated Yurikamome line is profitable, thanks to lower construction expenses, higher ticket prices and popularity among tourists and leisure visitors for its scenic views. However, the Rinkai Line's ridership has steadily increased since, reaching 200,200 passengers per day in 2010. The ridership is forecast to increase further due to future development planned for
176-495: A road, as well as the guidance. An automated line can be cheaper to run than a conventional line, due to the shorter trains and stations. AGT covers a wide variety of systems, from limited people mover systems commonly found at airports, to more complex automated train systems like the Vancouver SkyTrain . In the people mover role the term "automated people mover" (APM) is sometimes used, although this distinction
220-533: A wave of similar developments around the world. However, the market for these systems proved to be overestimated, and only one of these US-designed small AGT's was constructed as a mass transit system, the Morgantown PRT . Small scaled AGT systems are also known as people movers. Although the mass transit world showed a lack of interest, AGT systems quickly found a number of niche roles that they have continued to fill to this day. Tampa International Airport
264-516: A way to serve outlying areas or as feeders to a metro system. Kobe 's Port Liner is the world's first mass transit AGT, which began operating in 1981. It connects Kobe's main rail station, Sannomiya Station , with the dockyard areas and Kobe Airport to the south. Many similar systems have been built elsewhere in Japan. The Véhicule Automatique Léger (VAL) system in Lille , France , opened in 1983,
308-496: Is a third-sector company, and, as of 1 April 2013, 91.32% of shares are held by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, 2.41% by JR East , 1.77% by Shinagawa Ward , 0.70% by Mizuho Bank , 0.46% by MUFG Bank , 0.34% by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation , and the remaining 3% by 41 other companies. In spite of its severe financial situation, TWR was discovered to have made a five million yen donation to
352-630: Is named after the black-headed gull ( yurikamome in Japanese), a common denizen of Tokyo Bay and the official metropolitan bird. Before its 1995 opening, it was widely feared that the Yurikamome would end up as a multibillion-yen white elephant . The artificial island of Odaiba, which it serves, had been designed and constructed at prodigious expense before Japan's economic crash and, much like London's equally beleaguered Canary Wharf , there simply did not seem to be enough demand to support it. In
396-523: Is not just the island that became popular, as the Yurikamome had become an attraction in itself. To raise itself from ground level to the Rainbow Bridge , the Yurikamome makes a 270-degree loop, providing panoramic views of both mainland Tokyo and Odaiba. On the morning of 14 August 2006, a large-scale power outage in the Tokyo metropolitan area occurred, causing trains to come to a complete halt on
440-736: Is often cited as the first AGT installed to serve an existing urban area. Larger scale INNOVIA advanced rapid transit (ART) systems in Toronto , and Vancouver followed in the next few years, and then the Docklands Light Railway in London . VAL and ART systems have seen continued installations around the world such as in Airport Express in Beijing and have been joined by a variety of new systems with similar features, like
484-639: Is relatively rare because most people movers are automated. Larger systems span a variety of conceptual designs, from subway-like advanced rapid transit (ART) systems to smaller (typically two to six passengers) vehicles known as personal rapid transit (PRT) which offer direct point-to-point travel along a switched network. AGT was originally developed as a means of providing mass transit services aimed at serving rider loads higher than those that could be served by buses or trams, but smaller than those served by conventional subways . Subways were too expensive to build in areas of lower density, such as smaller cities or
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#1732791649152528-536: Is scheduled to take place in the middle of 2025 rather than 2024. Construction of the line started in 1992, with the eastern end of the line using the right-of-way of the Keiyō Freight Line (abandoned in 1983). The first portion of the line between Shin-Kiba and Tokyo Teleport opened for service on March 30, 1996, initially under the name Rinkai Fukutoshin Line ( 臨海副都心線 , Rinkai-fukutoshin-sen ) . The name
572-508: Is served by some trains on the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) Saikyō Line which continue on to Shinjuku , Ikebukuro , Ōmiya , and Kawagoe . While not part of the Tokyo subway network (as it was built to JR specifications), the Rinkai Line is fully grade separated and runs underground for nearly 10 km (6.2 mi) of its 12.2 km (7.6 mi) distance, going as low as 40 meters (130 ft) below
616-407: Is sometimes mistakenly called a monorail , but the trains run with rubber-tired wheels on elevated concrete track guided by the side walls. Since 2006, all the stations use the recorded voices of different voice actors for their Japanese-language announcements. The letter "U" is used as the symbol for station numbers rather than "Y" for Yurikamome as this letter is already used as the acronym for
660-424: The 2020 Summer Olympics , which will largely be held within the Yurikamome corridor around Toyosu, Ariake and Odaiba, with six competition venues along its route. The Yurikamome is Tokyo's first fully automated transit system, controlled entirely by computers with no drivers on board. However, the line is not the first in Japan, as Kobe 's Port Liner opened in 1981, 14 years before the Yurikamome. The Yurikamome
704-783: The AnsaldoBreda Driverless Metro . Automated monorail systems, such as the Innovia Monorail 200 system in Las Vegas , are becoming more common AGT systems. Monorails are less obtrusive because they only require a single, narrow guidebeam. Once limited to larger airports and a small number of metro systems, AGT have undergone something of a renaissance since the late 1990s. Lower capital costs compared to conventional metros have allowed AGT systems to expand quickly, and many of these "small" systems now rival their larger counterparts in any measure. For instance,
748-755: The Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line . Yurikamome trains are taken in and out of service at Ariake, and are stored in a yard near Tokyo Big Sight when not in service. Ridership on the line peaked at over 200,000 daily boardings in 2000, but declined substantially by 2004 as the Rinkai Line , which opened a year after the Yurikamome Line, expanded into more of the waterfront area and offered lower fares. Between 2004 and 2006, four new stations were added, which raised ridership slightly. The line uses Mitsubishi Heavy Industries rubber-tired " Crystal Mover " technology. As of 8 April 2021,
792-535: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government on October 16, 2009, to encourage the city's bid for the 2016 Olympic Games . The company stood to benefit financially if the games were held in Tokyo, as several of the proposed venues were located along the Rinkai Line. In addition to its ownership and operation of the Rinkai Line, TWR is also involved in real estate and subcontracting/management of station- and building-related design. In August 2014, it
836-548: The Vancouver SkyTrain started operations in 1986, but has expanded so rapidly that its track length roughly matches the Toronto subway which pre-dates it by 30 years. Although the original introduction of PRT systems did not result in the widespread adoption as expected, Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit in West Virginia's success, along with a renewed interest in new forms of transit, has led to several new PRT projects since 2000. London Heathrow Airport has installed
880-756: The Center at the top of a hill in Brentwood ; this system places the motor outside the vehicle at the top of the guideway to reduce the weight lifted up the hill and thus improve efficiency. Small AGT systems are also used as circulator or feeder systems within urban centers. The city of Miami installed its Metromover system in 1986 and later extended it by 4.4 miles and added 12 new stations it in 1994. Similar INNOVIA APM 100 systems operate in Singapore's Bukit Panjang district and in Guangzhou , China. Over time,
924-527: The E233 series trains are based at Kawagoe Depot. The first of a fleet of 31 new 10-car E233-7000 series sets were introduced on Saikyō Line , Kawagoe Line , and Rinkai Line services between Kawagoe and Shin-Kiba from 30 June 2013, displacing the fleet of 205 series EMUs. A new train type will be introduced in 2024, replacing the 70-000 series. The new type was revealed to be designated as 71-000 series on 6 November 2023. The revised entry into service
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#1732791649152968-495: The Leitner Group, better known for their ski lift systems, provide AGT systems for the airport market. Although the smaller vehicle systems were not successful in the marketplace, larger AGT were simpler to integrate into existing mass transit systems. Many higher capacity AGT systems that looked and operated in a fashion similar to a small subway have since become a common fixture of many existing metro systems, often as
1012-443: The Yurikamome is making a net profit and will pay off its loans in full faster than the 20 years originally anticipated. Operating frequency, hours of operation and number of trainsets have been continually revised upwards to accommodate the ever-increasing number of passengers. A further extension from Toyosu to Kachidoki is currently under consideration. The extension has become more likely as part of infrastructure improvements for
1056-524: The aerospace firms that had initially designed most of these systems left the industry and sold off the AGT divisions to other companies. Most of these were picked up by existing transportation conglomerates, and through additional mergers and buyouts, many of these are today owned by either Siemens or Bombardier . During the same period, a number of new companies entered the field with systems designed solely for these smaller installations. Poma , Doppelmayr and
1100-754: The anime Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club from the Love Live! franchise, with a fictional station bearing the school's name from the show. Automated guideway transit An automated guideway transit ( AGT ) or automated fixed-guideway transit or automatic guideway transit system is a type of fixed guideway transit infrastructure with a riding or suspension track that supports and physically guides one or more driverless vehicles along its length. The vehicles are often rubber tired or steel wheeled, but other traction systems including air cushion, suspended monorail and maglev have been implemented. The guideway provides both physical support, like
1144-400: The area served by the line. Station numbering was introduced to all Rinkai Line stations in 2016 with stations being assigned station numbers R01 (Shin-Kiba) and R08 (Osaki). Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit, Inc. ( 東京臨海高速鉄道株式会社 , Tōkyō Rinkai Kōsoku Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha ) was founded on March 12, 1991, for the express purpose of constructing and operating the railway line. It
1188-402: The cost of a subway system is due to the large vehicle sizes, which demand large tunnels, large stations and considerable infrastructure throughout the system. The large vehicles are a side-effect of the need to have considerable space between the vehicles, known as " headway ", for safety reasons due to the limited sightlines in tunnels. Given large headways and limited average speed due to stops,
1232-408: The elevated tracks, trapping passengers under the scorching sun for nearly an hour. An accident on the Yurikamome occurred on the afternoon of 14 April 2006. According to a government commission, one of the axles on the six-car train was cracked due to metal fatigue , causing a rubber tire on the train to fall off. The train came to a halt near Fune-no-kagakukan station, and services were suspended on
1276-502: The ending of Project Apollo and the winding down of the Vietnam War , there was concern that these companies would be left with few projects in the 1970s and 80s. Expecting widespread deployment of PRT systems through the late 1970s and 80s, many of the major US aerospace companies entered the AGT market, including Boeing , LTV and Rohr . Car companies followed suit, including General Motors and Ford . This, in turn, sparked off
1320-412: The entire line. This came at the start of a busy weekend when events were taking place at Tokyo Big Sight on Odaiba, but, according to news reports, alternate means of transportation were offered and there was no major confusion. The Yurikamome resumed limited train service on April 17 while further inspections and tests continued, with full service restored on 19 April. At over 110,000 passengers per day,
1364-572: The first few months of operation, ridership hovered around 27,000 passengers per day, only a little less than the predicted 29,000, but still far less than the 80,000 passengers needed to be profitable. However, in 1996, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government re-zoned Odaiba from pure business and residential to also permit entertainment zones. The island provided Tokyo with a strip of livable seaside, and within one year, ridership doubled to 60,000. As more and more restaurants, shopping malls, exhibition centers and museums opened, traffic continued to grow. It
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1408-492: The following train types are used on the line, all formed as six-car sets. Between 2014 and 2016, a fleet of 18 new six-car 7300 series trains are being introduced on the line. The first train was test run during the summer of 2013, entering revenue service from 18 January 2014. The new trains have longitudinal seating throughout, to increase overall capacity and speed-up boarding and alighting. Between June 2018 and June 2020, eight more six-car trainsets (7500-series) were built for
1452-537: The ground when crossing under the Port of Tokyo . The Shinonome – Shin-Kiba segment (which uses the former Keiyō Freight Line) is elevated. All stations are located in Tokyo . All trains stop at every station on the line. The TWR 70-000 series electric multiple unit (EMU) trains are based at Yashio Depot, which is accessed via a spur located between Tennōzu Isle Station and Tokyo Teleport Station (the spur track also provides access to Tokyo Freight Terminal ), while
1496-525: The line by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to replace the fleet of 7200 series trains. As of 1 April 2016, four out of the original eighteen 7000 series sets (05, 16, 17, and 18) were still in service, formed as six-car sets as follows. ("xx" stands for the unit number.) The 7200 series began operation in February 1999. As of 1 April 2016, eight 7200 series sets (21 to 28) were in service, formed as six-car sets as follows. ("xx" stands for
1540-411: The only way to increase passenger capacity is to increase the size of the vehicle. Capital costs can be reduced by elevating the tracks instead of burying them, but the large tracks needed present a major visual barrier, and the steel-wheels-on-steel-rails are very noisy rounding bends. Headway can be reduced via automation, a technique that was becoming feasible in the 1960s. As the headway is decreased,
1584-575: The rail and replace it with a "virtual" one that is read by sensors on the vehicle without the need for any mechanical connection. AGT systems, and the personal rapid transit concept (or "dial-a-cab"), became a major area of research after the publication of the HUD reports in 1968, and subsequent funding by the US Department of Transportation . Political support was particularity strong in states with large concentrations of aerospace companies; with
1628-450: The size of the vehicle, so the guideway was often separate from the running surface. Typical solutions used a single light rail embedded in the ground or attached to the guideway wall, with a wheel or slider that was pressed against the guideway rail and steered the running wheels through a linkage. A suspension-like system is needed to smooth out the imperfections in the guideway and provide a comfortable ride. More modern systems can eliminate
1672-462: The size of vehicle needed to transport a given number of passengers per hour also decreases, which, in turn, decreases the infrastructure needed to support these smaller vehicles. Everything from track supports to station size can be reduced, with similar reductions in capital costs. Additionally, the lighter vehicles allow for a wider variety of suspension methods, from conventional steel wheels, to rubber tires, air cushion vehicles and maglevs . Since
1716-440: The suburbs of larger ones, which often suffer the same gridlock problems as larger cities. Buses could be easily introduced in these areas, but did not offer the capacities or speeds that made them an attractive alternative to car ownership. Cars drive directly from origin to destination, while buses generally work on a hub-and-spoke model that can increase trip times. AGT offered a solution that fit between these extremes. Much of
1760-462: The system has to be automated in order to reduce the headways enough to be worthwhile, by automating the steering as well the operational costs can also be reduced compared to crewed vehicles. One key problem in an automated system is the steering system's negotiation of turns in the right-of-way. The simplest solution is to use a rigid guideway, like conventional rails or steel rollercoasters . For lighter AGTs, these solutions were over-specified given
1804-404: The unit number.) As of 2021, eighteen 7300 series sets (31 to 48) are in service, formed as six-car sets as follows. ("xx" stands for the unit number.) As of 11 August 2024, eight 7500 series sets (51 to 58) are in service, formed as six-car sets as below. In November 2020, delivery of the eight six-car sets was completed. ("xx" stands for the unit number.) The line is featured in
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1848-642: The world, and today they are relatively universal at larger airports, often connecting terminals with distant long-term parking lots. Similar systems were also a fixture of a number of amusement parks, notably the Walt Disney World Monorail System and the Toronto Zoo Domain Ride . The Getty Center in Los Angeles uses a unique vertically oriented AGT to bring visitors from a parking lot off Interstate 405 to
1892-489: Was officially changed to the Rinkai Line on September 1, 2000. The extension to Tennōzu Isle opened on March 31, 2001, and the final portion to Osaki on December 1, 2002. The project ran severely over budget, with an estimated final cost of over ¥440 billion. In 2005, the Rinkai Line's average ridership was 140,000 passengers per day and, in 2006, the line finally registered its first operational profit, although interest payments on ¥389 billion yen in debt have resulted in
1936-647: Was the world's first to incorporate an AGT system as an inter-terminal connector in 1971. Its landside/airside set up allows the airport to increase capacity without spreading out. The LTV Airtrans was another early AGT systems which was installed at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and went into operation in January 1975 (later replaced by the DFW Skylink system in 2005). Similar systems followed at airports around
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